santa clara district attorney jeff rosen giving time off to the staff, to make up for the 5% bonus cutt learned county council has issued its opinion on the legality of the district attorney giving free time off. it is a confidential document delivered to the board of supervisors. the sources close to the county's investigation says it does not look good for the da. one problem is how it could open up for others in a big way. others call it the me-too clause. >> reporter: letter after letter. >> there is a lot of animosity towards mr. rosen right now. >> reporter: different unions, same concerns. >> we had an understanding, a trust, an agreement. a contract. and we did not expec to be sitting here today. >> reporter: it comes after our investigation exposes the district attorney, jeff rosen, suggest that time sheets be alter altered, allowing employees to bank vacation and sick time which they can later use. he made up for a 5% bonus cut in the middle of the budget crisis. >> so yes, i brought in administrative leave to try to compensate them in some way for that. >> reporter: that ans

the district attorney jeff rosen. our investigation exposes his office recoding time off, allowing employees to bank vacation days. hundreds of time sheets from top paid attorneys in the d.a.'s office, altered. >> i directed this to happen. i wanted this to happen. this is exactly what i wanted to happen. it was unfair and unprecedent that their 5% differential was taken away. so after long and careful thought and deliberation, i instituted a policy. >> his policy? taking time sheet and changing vacation to administrative leave. allowing employees to get paid time off and still bank their vacation time. >> is it fair to everyone else who has had to make cuts? >> i don't even understand the question. >> other departments cuts. >> i'm the elected district attorney. so i'm entrusted with the public with running the district attorney's office. and with protecting the public. i'm not here to speak about how other departments in the county run their affairs. >> admin leave was given at the supervisors' discretion to attorne

jeff rosen has details on the tsarnaev brothers on alleged plans to target new york city. and a "today" exclusive, michael jackson's doctor, conrad murray, speaks out live from jail. >> now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. thanks for watching "early today." just your first stop of the day on your nbc station. you have a great weekend ahead. >>> breaking news out of oakland, a device that looks like is found on the street. >>> more than 100 years of history burned to the ground. crews still on the scene of a devastating fire in san jose. >> the petaluma little leaguers back in the headline. but this time, the news is not that great, what some of the players are accused of. >>> a live look outside on this feel-good friday. a bay bridge look. that is san francisco on this friday, april 26th. this is "today in the bay."

jeff rosen did was legal when he granted thousands of paid time off to make up for a 5% cut. >> i wouldike to avoid the cost and the delay and having somebody sort out the fundamental question which is it allowed or not. >> reporter: how that question will be answered was the center of discussion today. the county executive suggested they seek outside opinion. other board members agreed. >> if we don't have somebody come in and make a determination as to what happened in a binding way this could become very messy. >> reporter: jeff smith sent this e-mail to the d.a. saying he doesn't have any other choice but to go to the attorney general. he says it is clear the county does not have appropriate resources and authority to properly, publicly and completely investigate. >> we can't do an internal investigation without incurring lots of criticisms no matter what the investigation shows. >>> while the board waits to here about the legality of the action. >> it doesn't feel right when all of a sudden in the midst of that kind of an all for one and one for all belt tightening that one departm

our investigative unit first exposed this weekend santa clara county district attorney jeff rosen directed time sheets be altered giving thousands of hours of free time off in the wake of the county's budget crunch. when departments were forced to make cuts select employees lost a 5% bonus. our investigation covered the d.a.'s office changed time sheets basically giving employees extra time off without using vacation days. it's sparked an internal investigation by the county. >> so hundreds of time sheets were changed to make up for the 5%? >> hundreds of time sheets were documented as administrative leave to try to compensate employees that have extra responsibilities and extra hours and unfairly have their differential taken away from them. >> if i were one of his attorneys i'd be delighted with what the attorney was doing. if i were a tax per i'd be very union set. >> tonight at 6:00, our investigation continues. the fallout today, what more time sheets are revealing and why some are calling it a gift of public funds. >>> a pivotal day for president obama. he was in connecticut not only

we will start with jeff rosen. [applause] he's the district attorney of santa clara county and the recognized leader in criminal justice reform. he oversees the largest prosecutor's office north of los angeles and prosecute about 40,000 cases each year, so he is on the ground. he sees it all. he is however a green bay packer fan but we will forgive him because they lost. >> you should be very happy. you won. >> next to him is richard carranza and the superintendent of san francisco unified, just started in the summer of july. prior to that he was the deputy superintendent of innovation and social justice. [applause] next to richard is nancy o'malley, district attorney for alameda county. she was appointed in 2009 and elected in 2010 and has an amazing background dealing dealing with violence against women and domestic violence, elder abuse, child abuse and threat management. she's a wonderful addition to our panel so thank you nancy. [applause] next to nancy is tony smith who i loved his biobest of all and started

proud of the three da's and they covered it and we worked over the years with the heart power that jeff rosen referred to. when moving into the soft power i recognize we're not experts so i look to people like anne campbell, our superintendent and to cheryl there to educate us and i said this morning "i am interested what we can do as a district attorney's office to help , what we can do to help" because we recognize we're not experts. we have an expertise in certain areas dealing with consequences and accountability and we're good with that. when it comes to soft power with great collaboration we can have a support role and provide to our educators and experts what exactly can we do to assist you getting to the end that everybody talked about today and that's the only different take we would have. >> great thank you. [applause] i would like to say we need to wrap up. we have a late start and need to keep moving. i would like to say what struck me today that even though teachers and principals are in school all day addressing those things in the hallways and they're not here. we have school p

jeff rosen giving free time off in place of vacation and sick time to employees to make up for 5% bonus cut. >> we really can't do an internal investigation without certainly incurring lots of criticism no matter what the investigation shows. personally, i think probably the referral to the attorney general is the most appropriate. >> a supervisor says it's premature to seek outside opinion, arguing an opinion from the county's own legal counsel should come first. he said he will be filing that request with them today. the three other supervisors agreed with the county executive. they also want to see an outside party investigate. >>> coming up on nbc bay area, going beyond talking and driving, the new efforts to try to get drivers to stop using the gps while beyond the wheel. >> plus, first cigarettes, now e cigarettes, local county on the verge of imposing tough restrictions on all smokers today. >>> today is equal pay today. what does it mean? we'll take a look coming up in business news. >>> as christina loren likes to say, we're getting paid in sunshine around the bay area. this is

. ♪ the one and only, cheerios >>> tonight, santa clara supervisors want to know if jeff rosen broke law. this week, our investigative unit ordered the d.a. hundreds of time sheelts altered. he gave administrative leave and allowed employees to bank those vacation days, which would later be cashed out. rosen said it was to make up for a 5% bonus that was cut from their compensation. today, county supervisors discussed whether or not they thought attorney general kamala harris should get involved. >> if you don't have somebody come in and make a determination as to what happened in a binding way, you know, this could just become very messy. >> i'd like to avoid the cost, the delay and, frankly, having somebody who's not familiar with the county organization sort out just the fundamental question, which is is it allowed or not. >> the supervisor is requesting the county's legal team figureout if the d.a. is allowed to grant that time off. county executive told our investigative unit that he's sending a letter to the attorney general tomorrow. he welcomes an outside review. >>> now, if

we're talking about district attorney jeff rosen.red he's been handing out extra time off to select attorneys at the tax payers' expense. >> it was unfair and unprecedented that their 5% differential was taken away. >> is it fair to everyone else who has had to make cuts? >> i don't even understand the question. >> other departments making cuts. >> i'm the elected district attorney. so i'm entrusted with the public with running the district attorney's office and with protecting the public. i'm not here to speak about how other departments in the county run their affairs. >> if everybody in the county did that, our budget would be totally out of control. >> the county has opened an internal investigation into the d.a.'s office based on what we found. tonight at 11:00, we'll show you those altered time sheets and how it's affecting the county's budget. back to you, terry. >> thanks very much. if you have a tip for our investigative unit give us a call at 888-996-tips. or send us an e-mail to the unit at nbcbayarea.com. >>> orange and b

jeff rosen gave managers vacation benefits that could convert to cash.is apparently an attempt to get around a pay cut in the latest union contract. rosen says he had the right to offer the hand-picked managers the perks. they're currently investigating the deal. >>> oak lann could decide to cut ties with goldman sachs. activists are urging the city council to stop doing business with the wall street investment bank after it refused to cancel an investment that would cost taxpayers $20 million before it expires in 2021, but the oakland city administrator is hiring a firm into cutting ties with goldman sachs. goldman sachs will reportedly get a chance to respond to the issue during the finance committee hearing on tuesday. >>> an e connick oak tree at the state historical park will be cut down this fall. this is a picture of jack london and his wife in front of the tree in the early 1900s. california state park officials say the tree is ready to fall because of a wood-eating fungus and the tree killer known as sudden oak death. it is where landon wrote do

our media partner, the san jose mercury news, reports district attorney jeff rosen quietly gave his top deputies vacation benefits they can later convert to cash. the paper says the county's top administrator is investigating whether the same perks must now be offered to tens of thousands of other union employees in the county. that could potentially wipe out any savings the county achieved by renegotiating wages and benefits in the first place. >>> an incredible series of circumstances allowed a family of five to survive a car crash into the american river. their suv went off highway 50, flipping over into the middle of the river. by chance a kayaker with emergency medical experience was nearby. he pulled three children to safety. he went back for the driver, who was trapped upside down, his head being held up by his wife. >> i was afraid if i cut the seat belt he would have died in front of me, in front of me, his wife and three kids. >> and believe it or not again by chance a fire truck with men trained in swift water rescue was nearby. they put a life jacket under the driver's head

jeff rosen will do so. there has been no confirmation of that from the d.a. legal analyst dean johnson says that issue is not only up to rosen, but also a judge. >> the prosecution has the discretion to go to the court and ask the court to have the case charged as an adult crime and have it tried in adult court. >> reporter: and tomorrow audrie pott's parents plan to speak publicly for the first time. they're expected to talk about audrie's law which would increase penalties for cyberbullying and strengthen sexual assault laws so teenagers can be tried as adults. their attorney says they are in discussions with two lawmakers on that. state senator jim bell and zoe lofgren. a vigil for audrii pott is set friday. monte francis, nbc bay area news. >> monte, thank you. >>> we also spoke tonight to a man who is a suicide survivor and has dedicated his life to helping others. kevin hines jumped off the golden gate bridge 13 years ago after he says he was bullied for years in school and suffered from depression. >> the million second both my hands and feet left that

. >>> a prosecutor's union is accusing santa clara county jeff rosen of misusing public funds. ws reports rose -- mercury news reports that he's accused of giving extra time off. rosen is not commenting on the allegations. >>> 8:17. well, this week, voters in san rafael, you will get ballots for an election in the mail to renew a 24-year-old public schools parcel tax for eight years. ballots will ask voters to review a parcel tax for grades 9 through 12 and a 194 per parcel tax for grades k through 8. exemptions would be available for homeowners 65 and older. >>> a state takeover of schools ends today. almost nine years after a $60 million bailout. officials say the bailout came about after auditors found the school district faced a deficit of tens of millions of dollars back in 2003. auditors found the school district greatly overestimated the enrollment and revenue and underestimated the cost. that bailout was the second biggest in california history. >>> 8:18. members of last year's giants' team were given some hard- earned hardware during a world series ring ceremony. >> mat

. >>> a prosecutor's union is accusing santa clara county jeff rosen of misusing public funds. ercury news reports that he's accused of giving extra time off. rosen is not commenting on the allegations. >>> 8:17. well, this week, voters in san rafael, you will get ballots for an election in the mail to renew a 24-year-old public schools parcel tax for eight years. ballots will ask voters to review a parcel tax for grades 9 through 12 and a 194 per parcel tax for grades k through 8. exemptions would be available for homeowners 65 and older. >>> a state takeover of schools ends today. almost nine years after a $60 million bailout. officials say the bailout came about after auditors found the school district faced a deficit of tens of millions of dollars back in 2003. auditors found the school district greatly overestimated the enrollment and revenue and underestimated the cost. that bailout was the second biggest in california history. >>> 8:18. members of last year's giants' team were given some hard- earned hardware during a world series ring ceremony. >> matt cain! >> larry bea

they are really in charge, so jeff rosen worries that if we move beyond the first amendment, those inrge, the deciders, or as he says, the deleters, changes the sort of atmosphere, and it's not really the government so much. i mean, the key powerful actors here are not necessarily governments, at least in the united states, but it's private actors and silicone valley. >> there could be boundaries for privacy, and in 1939, they collected data on every living person in germany, and they utilized the machine called the machine issue an anteseptet to what we know of as the computer, but with that machine, they were able to track all of the data that they collected, enabled the nazis to separate the jews out of the rest of the german people, and today's technology allows much more extensive collection, sharing of private information, raising serious privacy concerns, individuals, organizations become more sophisticated with leveraging personal information that is shared online. the opportunities seem to be growing exponentially. now, is the american public giving too much trust in a partic